National Institute for Civil Discourse for the Creating Community Solutions Alliance

What the judges said: “… an excellent effort to draw in the population with mental health issues themselves - not just experts. ‘Text. Talk. Act.” is an innovative texting platform that combines text messaging, social media and face-to-face dialogue to get young people talking about mental health and taking action to help their friends. To date, the initiative has engaged thousands of millennials in a conversation to help end the silence on mental health.”

RESEARCH PROJECT OF THE YEAR

St. Vrain Valley School District for “Leadership St. Vrain – Empowering Parents through P2”

What the judges said: “Leadership St. Vrain represents the kind of original research the public participation field needs to demonstrate its value and impact moving forward. This research project … marks an important contribution to our empirical knowledge of the value of P2, not only within a school system, but to the field as a whole.”

What the judges said: “The jury was impressed with the depth of ODOT's efforts to engage residents and stakeholders … to ensure that the community's values were reflected at every key decision point in the process … overcame previous community skepticism … [involved] an inclusive representation of stakeholders … The result is a bridge project that not only serves as an important piece of community infrastructure, but a significant landmark of community identity and pride.”